Suspended BPP duo's disciplinary hearing slated for February 3

Botswana People’s Party (BPP) suspended chairman Richard Gudu and Peter Kuchwe will be hauled before the party disciplinary committee on February 3. They were suspended late last year for allegedly attending an Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) press conference claiming to represent BPP. Gudu is not only the party chairman but an important cog wheel of the BPP in its daily running.

Gudu who is believed to be a staunch UDC supporter got entangled in this mess after allegedly differing with the party leadership who were at one point suspected to be allies with Alliance for Progressives (AP). During the 2014 general elections, he was the only BPP parliamentary candidate who gave Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Parliamentary candidate Biggie Ganda Butale serious competition amassing 3506 votes against Butale’s 4510 at Tati West constituency. Speaking to The Midweek Sun this week, BPP Secretary General Venper Galetladiwe disclosed that although the two have not yet received their official letters alerting them of the disciplinary hearing date, they have been made aware of the date through other means.

“We were on Christmas break and there was nowhere we could have summoned them for a hearing during such a hectic time hence our decision to opt for the 3rd of February 2018.” On the other hand, Gudu rubbished such a claim and threatened to approach the party leadership to speed up the process. “My suspension is not only affecting me individually, it also affects the party in general since it cannot operate without other members of the executive,” he explained. Efforts to get a comment from Kuchwe were futile as his line was off air.